Dana White Remembers Most Memorable Career Moments Of Jose Aldo

One of the biggest stars in UFC history officially announced his retirement from action earlier this year, as Jose Aldo decided to call time on his professional career. The Brazilian is widely regarded as one of the greatest featherweights of all time by many experts, and he won 31 of his 39 professional fights. 

One man that appears to have all the respect in the world for the Brazilian fighter is UFC president Dana White, who has been recalling some of his favourite moments featuring the legendary fighter. Among these is the match where Aldo knocked out Jeremy Stephens, one of the best Iowan UFC fighters.

So, what are some of his other most memorable moments?

UFC 142

White’s all-time favourite moment involving Aldo came at UFC 142, which was held in the featherweight’s home country of Brazil. The event was staged in Rio de Janeiro, and White revealed that he had never heard an atmosphere like it after Aldo had successfully defended his UFC Featherweight championship. 

It was a dominant evening for Aldo, as he stunned Chad Mendes to KO his opponent with a knee strike in the second round. The aftermath of the fight delivered some of the craziest moments that we have seen in the UFC, as he jumped into a crowd with open arms. White revealed that the place went ‘nuts’ after the KO finish, and it was a moment that would stay with him forever. 

Headlining First WEC Show

While the moment in Brazil stands out for White, there has been no shortage of massive moments throughout Aldo’s career. One of his first star performances came back in 2010, as he headlined a WEC show for the first time. At that point, the UFC didn’t have a featherweight division, which made this the highest calibre of event available. It was a huge opportunity for Aldo, as he main evented the card against Urijah Faber. 

The two put on an excellent show on PPV in California, but it was Aldo that successfully retained the WEC Featherweight title, as he claimed a unanimous decision victory. It wasn’t only a win against the second-best featherweight division in the company, but also a first main event win on a PPV card headlined by him. 

UFC 200

Aldo was gaining all the momentum in the UFC heading into UFC 194, but his professional record took a knock after he was beaten for the first time by KO. That defeat was suffered inside the opening minute of his title defence against Conor McGregor. But, like all champions, he came back better than ever on his return to the octagon. Aldo was tasked with becoming the interim champion against Frankie Edgar and was successful after claiming a unanimous decision victory. 

The win later saw his title win upgraded to become the undisputed title holder, but the victory showed all his character on one of the UFC’s biggest events. One of the biggest shows of his character going into that fight was the fact that he teased the idea of retiring from the sport following his defeat against McGregor. However, his response on that evening was emphatic. 

UFC 142 & UFC 179

It would be hard to talk about some of Aldo’s most memorable moments without also mentioning Chad Mendes. Every great challenger needs an advisory that takes them to the limit, and for the Brazilian, that was Mendes. The two met on two occasions between 2012 and 2014, and both fights delivered excellent quality to the fans. 

Aldo claimed a dominant KO win at UFC 142 to defend the featherweight title, before he was pushed to the brink two years later, needing a unanimous decision victory to get over the line. The 2014 bout received a number of honours, including Fight of the Year awards from ESPN, World MMA Awards and MMAJunkie.com.